The gate bar came up after midnight. Calen was already on the stairs when Ear called out.
He had not been asleep. He had sat in the kitchen since the dusk bell with the Hask Book open in front of him.
He had written the date at the top of a clean page and nothing under it. From the window he had watched Ysra’s lantern move along the ridge road, and then go out.
He did not run. Running in the dark made people look at the wrong thing.
He crossed the yard at a walk and counted the steps from the kitchen door to the gate. Eleven.
He did not know why he counted them, only that his chest was tight. That was how it was when he was afraid.
Hoff stood in the gateway with a lamp. Ear held the bar in both hands, and the gate was open just wide enough for one person at a time.
Team One came through in the order Calen had expected.
